Nightfall

by Denise A. Agnew

  “I doubt that.” She blew lightly on a spoonful of soup. “You must work out.”

  “I do. Every day in the gym we have at the compound.”

  “Well, you’re way ahead of me. I’ve been doing some stretching and for a while there I was using my treadmill every day, but I’m out of the habit. I need to get back on it.”

  His gaze skated over her. “You look fine to me.”

  She smiled. “If you like lumberjacks.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Patty, you always look wonderful. If anyone tells you any differently, they need a kick in the ass.”

  His compliment threw her. Men never complimented her, and Dominic had ceased flattering her in their early days of marriage. “I’ve got ten pounds I want to lose. You’d think an apocalypse would have worn it off. Those first few months after the eruption were a beast.”

  “Ten pounds?” His face showed nothing less than pure disbelief. “Where?”

  Her face heated. “Well…I’d shave it off my rear and my thighs.”

  He grunted and shook his head. “Women. There’s not a damned thing wrong with your rear and thighs.”

  She lifted one eyebrow. “Oh? You’ve been looking at my butt and thighs?”

  To her surprise the top of his cheeks actually went pink. “Hell yeah.”

  Warm and husky, his voice sent tremors over her skin. She licked her lips and saw his gaze follow the movement. What was going on in his mind? She wanted to know with everything inside her.

  Instead she said, “I need to get back in shape.”

  “Okay then, I’ll make you a deal. Like I said, I’ve got great workout equipment at Sentry Security. You’re welcome to use it any time. Just call ahead so I can let you in.”

  “Really? You’d let me use your gym?”

  “One hundred percent.” His gaze turned warmer again. “And you’re beautiful, Patty. You don’t need to change a damned thing.”

  Her mouth flopped open, his straightforward compliment was as cut and dried as if he talked about a military operation. “Thanks. You’re an ego boost.”

  “I just call it as I see it.”

  She tilted her head to one side. “I used to hate that saying.”

  “You don’t anymore?”

  “I’m not a fan of brutal honesty. I had enough of that with Dominic.”

  He gave her a rueful grin. “I used to be like that…but I try to be…”

  He shrugged, and the awkward, almost embarrassed expression on his face blew her away.

  “You try to be what?” she asked.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Patty.”

  “I know. But now you’re eating my soup, and you’ve gotta pay.”

  He laughed, and she laughed with him.

  “That’s another thing I like about you, Patty. You’ve got this wacky sense of humor that leaks out when I don’t expect it.”

  “Well, don’t get to used to it. It only happens on accident.”

  He choked on another gulp of coffee, his eyes sparkling with good humor. He sputtered. “I like it.”

  “Okay, fess up. You said there’s a lot I don’t know about you. Is it secret squirrel army stuff?”

  “No, my personal life. Let’s just say I’ve learned a hell of a lot in the last few years about not being an asshole.”

  Shocked, she stared at him for an uncomfortable moment. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me. I can’t imagine you being an ass.”

  “You didn’t know me back then.” He sipped his coffee and caught her gaze. “I didn’t treat my wife or my daughter like I should have.”

  Caution made her sit back in her chair. “Oh?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t physically or emotionally abuse them. I took them for granted.” He dabbed his mouth with a paper napkin. “What else do you want to know?”

  “Tell me something else I don’t know. Like your career in the army, your life in general…” She grinned. “General.”

  He returned her grin, and she enjoyed that he’d smiled more at her in the last twenty-four hours than in all the months she’d known him.

  He sobered and put his spoon down. He’d eaten the entire bowl like it was his last meal. “My career was good. And bad. I’m a torn man.”

  “You didn’t like being in the army?”

  He sniffed. “Oh, I loved being in the army. I joined when I was young and had a wife and baby.”

  Her gaze jumped to his ring finger on his left hand. He didn’t wear a ring. He saw where she looked and held up his hand. “I’m a widower. She died years ago, way before the volcano went off.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He nodded, his eyes now somber with regret.

  His hands went up for a moment in a gesture of surrender. “In my military career I was away from home a lot.” He shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I met Marge when we were both eighteen and we married right out of high school. Against our parent’s wishes.”

  “Wow, young love.”

  “Yep. Over the years Marge was a faithful wife and a great mother to our daughter Penny. I thought I loved Marge, but I think we grew apart fast once Penny was born. We were too immature to understand what was happening to us.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I never should have had a child.” His voice went low and soft as he stared at the table. “It’s not that I don’t love Penny. I do. I just…it took me a long time to know how to express it. I’m afraid her mother’s love wasn’t enough.”

  Ah, so that explained a lot. “I see. The buttoned-up military man. The by-the-book way you do things isn’t only your military training, but it was there from the start.”

  He looked up, maybe a little surprise in his gaze. “Yeah. That says it all. After I went into college, the ROTC and upward through the military ranks there was more demands on my time. Marge and Penny didn’t want me to keep up the relentless pace, but I did it anyway. When Penny started rebelling a bit as a teen, Marge took the brunt of it.”

  He paused and pushed away his empty bowl of soup and coffee mug. He crossed his arms and his face shut down.

  “Let me guess.” She stood and brought the coffee pot over to the table and set in on a trivet. “Penny resents you for what happened.”

  His eyebrows lifted a little. “For what happened? You mean me screwing up her life?”

  “Yes.”

  He paused, his quiet swallowing the room as he stared into air as if turning over a particularly difficult question. “She blamed me for her upbringing because I wasn’t home much and Marge was unstable. After Marge and I divorced, Penny took her mother’s side on a lot of things. But Penny’s a smart woman. She figured out it was the combination of her mother and I that didn’t work and not just my career. By that time Marge had slipped into a heavy clinical depression and was in and out of therapy for years. She was also a one-woman walking pharmaceutical with all the anti-depressants she was on. Four years ago Marge committed suicide.”

  “Oh, my God. How horrible.”

  He rubbed his hand over that short beard, regret in his eyes. “I know there wasn’t anything I could have done to help Marge, but I still cared about her.”

  “And Penny? How is she doing these days? How is married life treating her?” Patty had made the two-tier cake for the couple, who’d married in a civil ceremony and then celebrated quietly at Sentry Security. Penny and her father had picked up the cake.

  “Married life seems to be treating her well and so is Ian, thank God.”

  “The way you say his name…you’re not too fond of the idea?”

  He snorted. “Actually, if you would’ve asked me that a few years back when they met the first time…I couldn’t stand him. Not because he wasn’t a fine employee and more than capable of handling the job. I just saw how much he wanted my daughter and how much she wanted him. I was suspicious.”

  “Oh, I see. This guy is like you and you didn’t want that for Penny.” She smiled. “You went in
to papa bear mode.”

  He nodded, a bashful tilt to his mouth. “Yep. But I realized last year that he loved my daughter. He saved her life from this asshole former boyfriend who came all the way from California to hurt her.”

  “He made it from California after the volcano blew?”

  “Yep. He got out of prison there. It’s a long story. Ian went to Bangor to get Penny after where she lived was taken over by riots and looting. Ian ended up tangling with the boyfriend.”

  She frowned and poured more coffee for herself, but when she held up the carafe to fill his, he waved it off with a, “No, I’m good.”

  “So you approve of Penny’s relationship with Ian now?”

  “Yes. I was wrong about Ian, and after it was evident they loved each other, I had to grow a pair and admit I was wrong.”

  “How is your relationship with Penny now?”

  He smiled, and the warmth and happiness contained in it told her the truth before he answered. “It’s much better. I asked her to be patient with me. At first I don’t think she believed that I’d changed. She spent so much time away from me after she grew up, and I love having her close.”

  “That’s wonderful.” On impulse she reached across and touched his hand. A quick, small pat and squeeze. His hand was so big and warm as her flesh drew over his. “That’s good to hear.”

  If he was fazed by her touch, he didn’t show it. “It feels damned good. I’m sorry it took an apocalypse to bring us close.”

  She nodded, understanding one hundred percent. “I took a lot of things for granted before Long Valley happened, too. I think we all did.”

  He looked around her kitchen. “You’ve got a great place here. Not too big, not too small.”

  “I agree. It needs some work, though. I’ve been here a lot of years. Cabinets need refacing or replacing, and I’d like to do a lot of redecorating. But then I started the bakery five years ago and all those plans went down the tubes for a while.”

  “This is the house you and Dominic lived in together?”

  “Yes.” She grimaced. “I’ve considered selling and moving someplace new. Just to start fresh, to clean the slate.”

  “Makes sense. When I retired from the army I knew I wanted to start the security team, and I needed a place where the team could be together in case of a crisis.”

  She slumped in her chair a little, feeling a bit tired. “That turned out well when the volcano exploded.”

  “Damn right. Over the last year I’ve had problems I wouldn’t have had before the volcano went off. I used to employ quite a few people in other branches of my security company in other states. I’ve had to close them all except for this one.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s quite a hit.”

  He nodded. “It is, but I’ve survived. I also gave good references to the men and women I had to let go at the other branches of the company. Many of them have hired on with other places.”

  “That’s good.”

  They paused for a moment, and she saw the regret in his face for having to close so much of his company.

  He leaned forward. “Tell me more about your ex. How many years have you been divorced?”

  “Ten years.”

  “So now he wants to get back together with you? I wonder if what he told you about those guys wanting to hurt his family was a piece of crap designed to scare you into his arms?”

  She sighed, unhappy the conversation turned to Dominic. “He wants to get back together with me, and I could see him lying.”

  Alexander gave her a hard-edged military look. “Is that what you want? To get back together with him?”

  She waved her index finger. “No. No way. Even though he was never violent toward me, there was something predatory in him last night. I can’t tell you how good it was to see you coming down that alley.”

  “Then we’ll have to make sure he stays away.”

  She peered at him. “We?”

  “I get the impression he’s the kind of man who won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Got that right.”

  “So what’s your plan to keep him away?”

  His question hit her like a ton of bricks. “I don’t have one.” When he stayed quiet, she asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “You could move in with me.”

  Chapter 3

  Maybe Patty hadn’t heard Alexander right. “What?”

  “As I mentioned last night, I’ve got room at Sentry Security. You could stay there. You’d be just as close to your bakery, and I could drop you at work every day.”

  She shook her head, alarm bells ringing in her head. “Oh, I don’t know.” She scrutinized him, looking for any sign that he didn’t mean it. “You’re serious.”

  “As a heart attack.”

  She stared at the table, unsure what to think as a hundred possibilities ran through her mind. “The rest of the team wouldn’t mind?”

  “Of course not. In fact I mentioned it to Penny last night when I got home. She thinks it is a great idea. I asked the men if they’d mind and they don’t.” He smiled. “Penny’s been meaning to stop by the bakery and thank you for the goodies.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’d love to see her.” She paused a moment before saying, “We could be overreacting about Dominic.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Look, I’ve run into guys like that before. You said he was a cop?”

  “As far as I know he’s living off his retirement and a disability. After we divorced he got shot during a domestic violence call. It took him awhile to recover. I didn’t know about it until long after the fact. Anyway, he took the disability and retirement.”

  “I see. So he can’t work?”

  “His back was screwed up, so it causes him enough grief. I guess he’s on and off pain killers.”

  He leaned back in his chair a bit and stretched, those powerful arms straining against the sleeves of his sweater. “If he’s abusing pain medication maybe it’s affecting the way he’s thinking. I don’t like the possibilities.”

  Neither did she, but she also didn’t know if moving into Sentry Security would be a solution. “Wait…by moving in with you, you don’t mean with you.”

  His eyebrows went up. “Not in my apartment, but in an extra room.”

  She blew out a quick breath. “Good. That’s what I hoped you meant.”

  “Damn, way to crumple an old soldier’s ego. Would moving into my apartment be so bad?”

  “Well…yeah.” She laughed. “We barely know each other, Alexander.”

  “I’ve known you a year.”

  True. “Yes, but today’s the first time we’ve talked about personal things. When you and I get together at the bakery it’s superficial talk.”

  “True. I look forward to getting to know you much better.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Alexander Graham, if I didn’t know you better I’d say you were flirting.”

  He wriggled his eyebrows. “And you would be right.”

  She needed time to think, and she stood slowly. “More soup?”

  “Yeah, it was delicious. I’m not surprised you make good soup.”

  He stood with her and walked into the kitchen. His closeness took her off guard—her sense of personal space had always been large, but with this man she loved having him near and he smelled like a million bucks.

  “Flattery,” she said. “You can’t distract me with compliments.”

  “What would it take to distract you?” His voice was liquid silk, a husky rumble that set off swirls of heat inside her belly.

  She ladled the soup and hoped she didn’t burn herself because he was rattling her cage and making her nervous in a sexy, too-much-to-handle way.

  She turned to him with the refilled bowl. “I don’t know. How would you like to distract me?”

  Oh, God. Did I just say that out loud?

  Instead of smiling or ignoring her statement, he placed the bowl on the counter and moved the tiniest bit closer
. His gaze dropped to her lips, then back up. When his gaze tangled with hers, she saw pure male interest burning in his eyes.

  “You really want to know?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, anticipation tingling through her.

  “I’ve been coming into your bakery for months now.”

  “Yes.”

  “Every time I walk in the door of the bakery and you’re there, I’m happy as hell. I love talking to you. I love being around you. I’d do anything to protect you.”

  Her eyes widened at the intensity in his words, at the raw emotion in his eyes. Wow. Just wow.

  All she could think to say was a breathy, “Oh.”

  He moved in until they were inches apart. He gently took the ladle from her hands and set it on the counter.

  He drew her hand to his chest and pressed it against solid muscle. “And God knows it’s all I can do to keep my hands off you.”

  In instinct she placed her other hand on his chest, loving the heat and hardness under her fingertips. Before she could even form a coherent response to his statements, he slipped his fingers into the hair behind her neck. His hard, warm fingers were so damned gentle.

  They were closer. Closer yet.

  Her attention zeroed in on his mouth.

  “Don’t,” she said softly as she looked up into his gaze.

  His eyes didn’t lose their heated quality. “Don’t?”

  “Don’t keep your hands off me anymore.”

  A gentle smile curved his mouth. A hard, amazing mouth she never imagined in a million years would be so, so close to hers. Now was the right time for this.

  Alexander leaned in slowly and she met him halfway. Their lips meshed, a sweet and gentle first brush that sent wild flutterings over her body and made her heart beat faster. Liquid need pooled low in her womb. He released her hand and her fingers spread over his chest. With his fingers buried in her hair and his arm tightening around her waist, she was pleasantly mashed against his big, powerful body. Everything feminine inside her rejoiced, awakening heady feelings she’d almost forgotten. No, not forgotten. Never experienced with this potency before this man kissed her. She sank into the excitement, the way his mouth touched hers so tenderly, as if he expected her to shatter into a thousand pieces. She slipped her arms around his neck, eager to show him she wasn’t fragile. Hunger ignited and his mouth slanted over hers, taking the kiss a step further. She responded with new enthusiasm. Their bodies moved, his hardness seeking her softness. His tongue stroked deep into her mouth, and a firebrand of sensation exploded inside Patty. She couldn’t get enough. She met his strokes with her own. He leaned into her slightly and she backed into the counter behind her. She shifted her right leg slightly, and his thigh edged between her legs. Pressed the slightest bit against her clit.